Bulacan gov: Retrofit Angat Dam amid Japan quake

MALOLOS CITY ,Philippines  – Bulacan Gov. Wilhelmino Alvarado reiterated his call for the retrofitting of the 43-year-old Angat Dam a day after Japanese cities were ravaged by a tsunami brought by a magnitude 8.9 earthquake.

“We need to seriously take a look at Angat Dam in the light of the tragedy in Japan because Phivolcs has warned us long ago that the dam is sitting on the Marikina West Valley fault line,” he said, referring to the earlier statement of Renato Solidum, the director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).

Alvarado made a call during his weekly radio program The Governor’s Hour, aired over DWSS 1494 Khz yesterday morning.

He said the national government must initiate a feasibility study on the stability of the dam’s structures.

“I mentioned this to the President once and I will talk with Secretary Mario Montejo next week to reconsider the warning from Phivolcs,” he said.

He added that Philvolcs has repeatedly warned the government that the country is included in the Pacific Rim of Fire.

Based on earlier interview by The STAR, Solidum said that the Marikina fault line extends from Angat Dam in Bulacan to Taal Lake in Ba­tangas province.

The fault line, Solidum said, moved between 200 and 400 years.

“It can move anytime because the 400 year period has passed,” he said.

Based on Phivolcs’ estimates, the Marikina Fault line may produce a magnitude 7.5 earthquake.